Good morning friends!  I am back!  I spent this week at an Autism training for work...and did not have my laptop with me!  Please don't think that I have finished pouring out my heart about Moldova...because quite frankly...I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon.  Moldova still consumes me...I think about it every single day.  Brian and I talk about it EVERY single day.  (Thanks for your prayers, by the way-cause it is still in our hearts).  The whole time I was at the training...I kept having sensory memories of Moldova (for those of you who don't know what that is...its not some new agey thing...it just meant I was remembering the smells, sights, sounds, etc of Moldova).  I went to sleep each night praying for the kids at Providence by name and for all the girls at Stella's House by name too.  In case you can't tell...they have just over taken my heart...and I cannot wait to see them all again!  Luckily I can "see" the kids at the orphanage often.  I can look at my own pictures...or I can look at Galina's photos from each week at camp.  She has done an amazing job with camp.  After looking at the pictures, I REALLY want to go to camp.  They are having silly days...silly skits...singing songs...loving Jesus.  I am a goof ball...and the thought of dressing like a goober to make some orphans laugh is VERY appealing to me :) Now doesn't that sound amazing?  I just think Galina is the most amazing girl.  I know I have already told you all this.  But, keep praying for her.  Let me tell you how God put her on my heart this week...

Our church has been doing a series called "Real World Transformations"  looking at characters of the Faith from the Old Testament.  We have looked at Moses, Nehemiah, David, Elijah, and Jonah to name a few. Last week our teaching pastor (remember he is the one who got up SUPER early to do communion with us before we left for Moldova) taught about Esther.  You can click on that for the link to the sermon.

Let me just go on and digress for a minute...EVERY sermon we have heard since we got back from Moldova has made our hearts burn for that country even more.  So, as soon as the pastor began speaking I thought...
                OK God...how is it going to be about Moldova this time?  I really did say that to God. 

I knew it was going to be about Esther, because the awesome intro REAL WORLD video was about Esther.  So...I kind of got comfortable in my seat.  I mean, How in the world could Esther's story remind me of Moldova, right?  I am just so dense some times!

Our Pastor started the sermon off by saying...Esther was an orphan (Esther 2: 5-7).  I wrote on my sermon outline REALLY?  Brian and I laughed...I thought to myself...well that one was much more obvious God...didn't really think it would be that obvious.  I mean...REALLY?

Before I tell you about the sermon..let me just go on and tell you...throughout the WHOLE sermon I thought of Galina... from beginning to end.  Every STEP!  He also used the sermon to continue to burn our hearts for Moldova. 

OK...I am not going to do the story or the sermon justice...but here is my summary of it.  The outline part was very applicable to our current experience... It was all about Seeing your Moment and Seizing your moment.  Click on the Esther link above to watch it...it was GOOD STUFF...anyway... Esther's story and Galina's stories are so similar.  Esther, an orphan, was raised by her older cousin Mordecai.  When the king had to choose a new queen, he chose Esther (Esther 2:17).  Important side note-During those times, addressing the kind in his inner court without an invitation was punishable by death.  Esther got word, that her people, the Jews were being mistreated and killed throughout the kingdom.  While Esther initially did not want to risk her life, liberty, etc....she knew that she must be the one to address the king on behalf of her people.  Mordecai reminded her that perhaps (she) had come in to royal dignity for such a time as this (Esther 4:14).  Esther found favor with the king...and was given an opportunity to save her people.  She risked her life to address the king in his inner court and save her people.  This was an OVER SIMPLIFIED version of Esther's story.

I don't know if you see the Galina in this....but I do.  Galina, while initially hesitant to return to Cupcui, the orphanage where she lived during her childhood, she knew that God had put her in a place to "save her people".  To offer hope, love, and joy to the her people....the children in the orphanage at Cupcui.  God found favor with her...and has been preparing her for her whole life...for "such a time as this."  Isn't that amazing?  I e-mailed Galina this week and told her how much she reminded me of Esther.  That she was doing amazing things for her people.  Keep praying for her friends.  She is doing BIG things for His kingdom...and for her people.

If you haven't read the Book of Esther before.  You should.  You may also want to consider watching the Movie a Night with the King (its on Netflix instant).

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Now that you have had a tiny glimpse in to village life...I will tell you a story from our first day at Providence Home for Orphans in Cupcui.  Providence Home was a previously state run orphanage that PCM is now running.  (Remember they turned it around and made it livable).  When we first arrived there, many of the children were still completing their morning routines (eating with their "families", cleaning, etc.) 

Quick Detour for information-Providence is set up in family units.  (apartments with 2-3 bedrooms, a bathroom suite, and a living room/kitchen area).  There are house parents assigned to each group of children.  There is a main living room and then bedrooms off of the living room/kitchen area.  The children are assigned to "families".  PCM does everything to encourage family like dynamics.  They eat their meals together, they fave family time, and family responsibilities.  Its pretty awesome!

I feel that now is the time to share some stories...now more than ever sweet friends I wish I was a more eloquent writer and could truly convey the stories the way they were shared with me...

I would like to share several success stories that came from Cupcui.  I want to begin with Galina.  I facebooked her yesterday and asked her if it would be alright if I shared her story with you my friends.  She said of course!  So I want you to know...that I am sharing this with her blessing.
Galina is an AMAZING young woman.  You won't meet a more beautiful, more godly, more amazing girl.  To know her past, and see her present...its JUST INCREDIBLE.  That girl has a servants heart like no one.   She also has tons of spunk! I spent a week with her and feel so much love and respect for her.  I want to share her story with you...
Galina gave us our tour of Providence on the first day...she showed us the room that was hers while she lived there.  Here is a picture of Galina in her old room (granted it is MUCH nicer now).  Galina looks lovely in this picture...but the picture does not come close to conveying the true beauty that she has inside and out. 

As we walked through the village of Cupcui, I asked Galina about her life...When she was four years old, her parents divorced and put her in the orphanage.  I continued asking her about her situation and learned that she had 4 other siblings.  Her siblings were NOT put in the ophanage.  Just Galina...left alone at 4.  She was the middle of 5 children...and they had to get rid of one extra mouth to feed.  Galina was taken to the orphanage at Cupcui at 4.  Can you imagine?  Looking at your five children and deciding that one had to go...and then choosing which one it would be.  I don't have children myself...but I know if I had brought 5 children in to this world that I would do everything I could to protect ALL of them...not just some of them. 

So that is how Galina's life started...feeling that she was the one who was the least important, the least loved...Cupcui orphanage was NOT the wonderful place it is now...and Galina struggled to stay warm and to stay safe during her time there.  She met Krissy and Philip Cameron when she was much older.  They were some of the first people in her life to ever show her that they cared that she existed...that her life mattered to them.  They took the time to learn her name, to learn her story, to love her.  I can't imagine what would have happened to Galina if Philip and Krissy hadn't visited Cupcui.  Their love (through God) changed her life.  They taught her about God's love for her...they showed her that she is important to Him...that HE loves her so much that He gave His life for her.  Galina is now on FIRE for God.  ( I digress...but Galina just amazes me.)  That's not all of Galina's story...the school at the orphanage was a place of torture for Galina...she struggled with academics and was constantly ridiculed by the teachers.  We would call it verbal abuse...and it would NOT be acceptable in our schools...but it was just another day in the life of an orphan for Galina.  Galina's academics did not improve and the unkind treatment continued.  When Philip and Krissy learned of Galina's academic troubles, they questioned her vision.  Krissy and Philip arranged to have Galina's eyes checked.  At the doctors appointment, they found that Galina had large tumors bearing down on her ocular nerves that were causing some pretty severe visual impairments...and were potentially dangerous.  The Camerons arranged for Galina to have surgery in the U.S. to remove the tumors.  Galina's eyes and vision are beautiful now...When Galina turned 16 and "aged out" of the orphanage she moved in to Stella's House and completed high school.
Krissy and Philip Cameron have done many other amazing things like this (because of their love for God and for His Children...they are able to do these things because of donations to their ministry.)

Galina served as one of our interpreters during our trip.  She currently lives at Stella's House but is currently working like crazy to serve the kids at Cupcui.  She is actually doing "camp" with the kids for 4 weeks of the summer.  She has planned and organized and made wonderful things happen for the kids at the orphanage that used to be her home.  When Galina left Cupcui when she was 16, she promised she would never return...and now God is using her in this place that once held so many bad memories for her....He is using her there to make good memories for others.

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